How Securities Are Traded

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Bernard Moore
7 years ago
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1 How Securities Are Traded Chapter 3 Primary vs. Secondary Security Sales Primary new issue issuer receives the proceeds from the sale first-time issue: IPO = issuer sells stock for the first time seasoned new issue = new issue by a company that already has floated equity target: public offering vs. private placement Secondary existing owner sells to another party issuing firm doesn t receive proceeds and is not directly involved 1-2

2 Investment Banking Arrangements Underwriting investment bankers form an underwriting syndicate they buy the shares from issuer (at the initial offering price less a spread) and resell them to the public (firm commitment) underwriters assume full risk Best Efforts investment bankers just help the issuer act as intermediaries no firm commitment, no risk 1-3 Public Offerings Public offerings registered with the SEC and sale is made to the investing public. shelf registration (rule 415, since 1982): shares can be sold for 2 years after initial registration Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) underwriters gather info from large investors on their interest, then allocate shares accordingly discounted price to reward information shared underpricing (another cost of the issue) good initial performance, but poor after 5 years 1-4

3 Private Placements direct sale to a limited number of sophisticated investors not requiring the protection of registration with SEC cheaper than public offerings dominated by institutions not suitable for very large offerings very active market for debt securities not traded on secondary markets (less liquidity) lower price 1-5 Organization of Secondary Markets Organized exchanges Over-the-Counter (OTC) market Third market Fourth market 1-6

4 Organized Exchanges auction markets with centralized order flow only members can trade (commission broker) listing requirements securities: stock, futures contracts, options, and to a lesser extent, bonds examples: NYSE, Amex, regional exchanges 1-7 OTC Market dealer market without centralized order flow no listing or membership requirements Nasdaq: largest organized stock market for OTC trading information system for individuals, brokers and dealers requirements for listing on the computer network 3 levels: inactive investors, brokerage firms, market makers securities: stocks, bonds and some derivatives most secondary bonds transactions 1-8

5 Third and Fourth Market Third Market trading of listed securities away from the exchange (NYSE-listed firms on OTC) institutional market: to facilitate trades of larger blocks of securities Fourth Market direct trading of investors of exchange-listed securities, with no middleman involved in the transaction Electronic Communication Networks (ECN) allow members to post orders and be matched with other orders, for a per-transaction fee 1-9 Trading on Exchanges Participants (commission) broker acts at the order of the client dealer ( specialist ) acts as market-maker, centralizing all orders for a specific stock Features only one specialist in a stock, but usually more stocks per specialist all trading in a stock is conducted at specialist s post price priority (best orders executed first) 1-10

6 Types of Orders Market Order buy or sell order to be executed immediately at the market price actual price may vary because of order volume or trading inside the quoted spread Limit Orders investors specify prices at which they are willing to buy (limit-buy) or sell (limit-sell) Stop-Loss stock is sold when its price falls below a limit stop-buy order = opposite transaction (used with short-sales) 1-11 Trading on the OTC Market same kinds of participants as on exchanges, but more than one dealer per stock (no specialists) brokers look for the dealer with best price trading through = dealers execute trades at their bid/ask prices rather than better prices from limit orders by public customers 1-12

7 Costs of Trading Commission fee paid to broker for making the transaction brokers can be full-service brokers (financial consultants) or discount brokers Spread: cost of trading with dealer bid: price dealer will buy from you ask: price dealer will sell to you spread: ask - bid Combination: on some trades both are paid 1-13 Buying on Margin investor borrows a part of the purchase price from the broker (brokers call loan), with the shares being used as collateral interest rate paid = interest rate charged by bank + service charge margin = the part of the purchase price contributed by the investor percentage margin = equity in account / market value of equity maximum margin is set by the Fed (currently 50%) 1-14

8 Buying on Margin (cont.) as stock prices fluctuate, the value of equity in the account changes the margin changes if the margin falls below the maintenance margin, the broker issues a margin call: the investor can add stocks or cash to the account the broker can sell some of the shares investor s return compared to just buying stock higher profit if price increases higher loss if price falls loss equal to interest if price stays the same 1-15 Short Sales investor borrows shares from their broker and sell them on the market later, they need to cover their short position, i.e. buy the shares on the market and return them to the broker (and pay the dividends paid during the loan, if any) only allowed if last change in price was positive to eliminate speculation against stocks the investor is required to keep cash or other securities in their account (collateral) worth at least the margin on short sales 1-16

9 Short Sales (cont.) as stock prices fluctuate, the value of equity in the account changes the margin changes if the margin falls below the maintenance margin, the broker issues a margin call: the investor can add stocks or cash to the account the investor can cover the short position usually accompanied by stop-buy orders investor s return high profit if price falls high loss if price rises 1-17 Regulation of Securities Markets Government Regulation federal agencies: SEC, SIPC in response to accounting scandals Self-Regulation circuit breakers = stop trading during periods of high volatility, to allow market participants to acquire better information Insider Trading the usage of inside information is illegal 1-18

How Securities Are Traded. Chapter 3

How Securities Are Traded. Chapter 3 How Securities Are Traded Chapter 3 Primary vs. Secondary Security Sales Primary new issue issuer receives the proceeds from the sale first-time issue: IPO = issuer sells stock for the first time seasoned